The Staging of World Dance - An insight into staging an event at Lydd

World Dance are probably the most respected and well known rave organisation on the circuit. (Well, who else not only had Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee within their walls, but had them at midnight on New Year’s Eve – not bad eh?!). World Dance have successfully packed out legendary venues like the London Arena, Docklands, Wembley Exhibition Centres and Lydd Airport all of which they themselves discovered. Not only do World Dance do it in true professional style then; they do it first – setting the standard for the way forward. So, what exactly is involved in the making of a World Dance event? My mission today is to give you an insight into all those bits you don’t see – ‘The Staging of World Dance!’.

Back in 1987 there were proposals for Lydd to be developed almost on the same par as a Gatwick style airport although for various reasons this didn’t go ahead. This meant that when the World Dance team came along 4 years later, on the hunt for a venue never used before (and probably never thought of before as a potential rave) the climate was right, with Lydd looking idealistic as one of the maddest venues in the country. Obviously, if Lydd had been developed it would not have been right and Lydd as we know it in Raveland would never have come about! However, transforming this bare and somewhat decaying hangar into the sort of event that now can only really be guaranteed by World Dance was going to take a lot of hard work before any party could safely be held. So in 1982 World Dance gained permission from the owners of the airport to hold events there. In doing so they modified the hangar, repairing the building and bringing it up to satisfactory standard from a public safety point of view and installing 20 fire exits.

For every event the license must be renewed. This is a lengthy process and a set of standard procedures are gone through before the event can get the go ahead. There’s a license hearing in which the appeal for a license goes to court and the local council make the decision as to whether or not it will get the all clear. For every event there are more often than not new hurdles for the World Dance team to overcome. For this event one particular corner of the building had badly corroded since the last event so it had to be plated, welded and strengthened before the council would allow the licence to be granted. The surrounding doors also had to be secured thoroughly so they would not move. The planning for the event commenced 3 months before the actual date of the party. Everything from the date on which the event is put on to the DJ’s chosen to the lay out of the venue, sorting out the right people to do the lasers, sound, lighting, power and engineering (although usually the same firms are hired for each individual event) has to be organised – believe me nothing is overlooked in the staging of a World Dance event!

One of the most stressful tasks for an organisation like World Dance is choosing that all important lineup. Trying to please the masses (when the masses is a crowd of 7000) is bound to be tricky to say the least. At present World Dance is a predominantly Drum & Bass event with about 20% of the night allocated to Hardcore. Tomorrow out of 10 DJ’s – 7 are playing Drum & Bass and 3 are playing Hardcore in the main arena. The World Dance office is swamped with letters all the time with mixed reactions over musical preferences. For every letter which pleads for more happy DJ’s there’s one saying “what were you doing putting on happy DJ’s?”. It’s a difficult situation for any promoter. World Dance aim at the end of the day to please the crowd and all opinions are taken into account when planning out future events.

Even the event date is carefully calculated – it’s not a just a random date off your calendar – ooh no missy! Firstly it has to be the right time of year from a market point of view. This event was planned to synchronise with the end of exams (party time!) as the June 10th event last year clashed with exams and this affected ticket sales slightly. Secondly, the event can’t overlap with other events in the same area as this would cause extra strain on the allocation of council and police staff to work. Because there is so much to organise at a World Dance event they can only do 4 or 5 a year – there just simply isn’t time to do more. Already plans are well on the way for the event in the final week of August, flyers are already circulating and it’s looking massive with 6 tents of totally different styles of music. So, today I’m on the scene for the final chapter of this event – the crucial final days when all the months or precise planning and organisation finally come together…

I arrive at the site of 12 o’clock on Friday afternoon where the World Dance workers have all been on the site since the previous Sunday to get everything ready for tomorrows grand opening. It’s strange to think that before Sunday all that stood here were a few small planes fro an old wartime hangar and of the massive transformations this site was about to see!

The first job for Brian the World Dance engineer was to put two rounds of scaffolding right the way round the roof to hang up all the lights. The roof is especially light so great care had to be taken over the amount of weight (limited to 450kg each side) because of it’s fragile structure. Next in the sequence of events came the marquees, all of which thankfully arrived on the least windy day! The tents are all in place on my arrival – (the tea tent – better known as the chill out, the search tent – which is enough to scare event the most wholesome raver, and the merchandise tent). In fact these are the only indicators that I’m at the same venue which is so dramatically transformed later. At present the surrounding lawn (which tomorrow will be a car park) is being mowed just so that all you lot with your flash lowered cars don’t have any problems getting through!

Inside the main hangar the lighting team at ‘Spotco’ are busy on the case aligning the lights in a strategic manner across two central beams (which looks a lot more effective than at previous events when the lights were situated at the sides). I was quite amused to see in the middle of all Spotco’s extremely high tec’ equipment a rather out of place sofa. I was informed that his was the ‘Spotco Sofa’ which follows them wherever they go, (and there was me thinking perhaps this was going to be used as the alternative more comfortable chill out!).

Now to say that World Dance enjoy the best in their field is an understatement – the Spotco crew have worked with massive rock concerts as well as Raves. Nathan, (who in fact won’t work for anyone but World Dance) is at present putting up the lights was chief electrician for Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in Berlin and has just finished the lighting for a Bruce Willis film.

I have been tipped by the Spotco boys to watch out for the ‘lighting strike’ at the event. Apparently this is the brightest strobe you will ever see and is exclusive to World Dance, using 250,000 watts. It is the same strobe used outside at the beginning of the event which lights up 20 miles of sky. The Spotco crew give me the lowdown of their aims for the evening, which are to use the lights as a means heightening the overall atmosphere of the event. On the actual night the lights are monitored and computerised by Spotco (who ensure me that the lighting itself is a show in it’s own right) – taking us on a continuous journey of lighting magic with their dazzling array of colours and patterns, so I’m confident that we are up for something that bit more special tomorrow.

The next thing I noticed in the hangar (well, to be precise stumbled ever) are the massive turbo sound blue box speakers which haven’t been erected yet. These are especially good as they are directional which means you can channel exactly where you want the sound to go rather than just booming aimlessly. This eliminates the most common problem with warehouses on this scale in which the sound is not constant all around the arena and sounds louder in some parts than in others. When the first couple of events were held at Lydd 4 years ago the sound system was not as advanced as the ones they use now and there was sometimes noise complaints from ‘nearby’ neighbours. Now World Dance have learnt how to overcome this problem and if there are any complaints (which is rare) someone is sent to where the complaint has been registered and the sound level is recorded to prove that it’s okay opposed to just turning down the whole system. Throughout the staging of about 15 events which have been held at Lydd the World Dance team learned a lot and have made sure that each event just gets more advanced each time.

There have been problems in the past with lasers but World Dance now use a laser firm based in Germany who were bought over this morning arriving at Lydd at 10am after starting their journey at midnight, (World Dance certainly don’t cut any corners in their pursuit for the finest!). The lasers create all the wonderful images you see, with every image for the event having to be programmed into a computer before it can emit all those powerful laser beams. At present we are waiting for the main power generator to be switched on so we wait until it is safe for the power to circulate. When we get the all clear I’m talked through the laser process. Thankfully the crew from Germany originate from London and Canada (so there’s no communication problems!). Nevertheless, this is all sounding all too advanced for me, taking me back to those early CDT lessons at school when you desperately want to understand how all these complicate machines work but it’s all going way over your head! All you need to know is that this system is advanced and if you want some of the maddest lasers in the country – this is the event to come to!

There has been a slight deviation from the normal set sequence of procedures undertaken in which certain tasks are completed before others. Because Spotco are using the access platforms (massive machines enabling them to reach the really high ceiling at Lydd to assemble the lights) the construction of the dance platforms has been delayed until tonight, (this is usually one of the first jobs to be completed). So instead 11,000 metres of fencing is put up around the venue which is usually one of the final jobs to be completed. The stage is the first ting to be built in the main hangar (everything you see at a World Dance event has been especially created for the night). The stage is situated at the end of the hangar for this event as opposed to the back wall as a result of the responses World Dance have received – this is what the customer prefer so this is what they get!

While I’m wandering around the site, Paula (one of the engineers) comes back with the update on the ‘risk assessment’ – nothing is getting by us! Every possible risk for tomorrow’s event that can be foreseen is calculated. Even the weather forecast is taken into consideration as bad weather such as a sudden storm could be hazardous as the site is prone to flooding. This is overcome by putting a pump into the main drain. Lighting is also another worry as it could take out most of the electrical supply. Structural collapse is another factor to consider – especially as the building is so fragile. World Dance and the local authority have their own structural inquirers who are familiar with the building by now to avoid any problems here. All risks are taken into account and overcome. For instance the tents are placed on concrete as opposed to grass to avoid any possible accidents with dry grass and cigarette ends resulting in fire. The fairground rides (which at present stand as just a basic frame) are inspected by the local council and Health and Safety executives – to ensure you lot have fun in the safest possible environment.

The core of a World Dance event is the massive 2500 KVA power generators. Each one by itself could maintain the site but on the night they share the load, this works better than a changeover system where if one failed the other would take over it’s load as it means if one crashes the other takes over straight away as opposed to having to wait for a while as with the changeover system. The event can not solely run on the power of the airport itself as this is not ‘clean’ (I’m informed that this is the term used in the business’). Clean power is essential if you have a sound or lighting system as if it’s not clean the sound will fluctuate continuously and generally sound pretty poor.

On the final few days prior to the event the pressure is on to ensure that everything is proceeding according to schedule whilst tackling anything else which is thrown in the way (if a problem occurs it is always at the last minute – who said the life of a promoter is easy?). This is where what’s known to the World Dance workers as the ‘shit list’ comes into force. The list covers an array of problems which need to be tackled usually starting with about 20 at the start of the day and getting it down to nothing by the end, only to find that by the middle of the next day there’s a fresh list to tackle! At present there are problems with the water supplies as water is needed for the tea tent. Water is also needed for the medical centre on the site as by law the public must have access to drinking water. As the day progresses there is a further big check by the local authority and the police to make sure everything is in order. By the time they leave we are eagerly awaiting the outcome of their visit. The outcome is a few more points for the ‘shit list’, which is actually welcomed by World Dance as obviously they’d rather be aware of any problems now rather than later. The small spurt of long grass by the fire exit has to be removed as it is seen as hazardous, a couple of places also have to be cleared as they are seen as blocking the access route, also the marquees need more bracing against the wind so a piece of cross bracing has to be put in to stop it scissoring or moving in the wind. Finally the fourth problem which they arose is going to be quite a significant one on the ‘shit list’. When World Dance first went to Lydd they fixed and welded the doors, but since then the airport has opened them up and in doing so rendered them unsafe. Where the doors has been separated slightly the water has eroded some of the metal – thus distorting and corroding it. This raises fears that there is a possibility that in severe weather or a sudden storm it may fracture and come down. So, now a solution has to be found to find a way of supporting the doors with an overhead beam which attaches each door to each other so if one was to collapse the others would support it. This is not the best time to find this out when the event is tomorrow night! There is another final check tomorrow afternoon where everything will be scrutinised thoroughly before the doors are allowed to open – it need be there will be a late opening until all things are up to standard.

Tomorrows programme of events follow a set procedure. First the site has to be evacuated while the dog team are sent in to search the premises to ensure that it is sterile (Lydd, at present, is a non drug and alcohol site although rumour has it that there may be alcohol at the next event). This is subsequently followed by a briefing in the afternoon with all the major players including the licensing officers, the building control people and the police/fire and ambulance services. There is also a coded security message between security which is not meant to be comprehendible to the general public, as if there is an emergency the last thing anyone wants is a panic!

By Friday evening the Garage and House arena is almost there – the lighting is almost secured, the dance platforms are in place and it’s all looking optimistic with everyone continuing their tasks sometimes until the early hours, working together to ensure that it is of true World Dance standard.

By Saturday afternoon everything is on schedule (but this isn’t to say that some didn’t stay up all night to get there). There are 74 portable toilets in place (giving the local Kent community some trade as these arrived from Maidstone), over 2000 metres of scaffolding have been used to create the stage, dance platforms, and securing the sturdiness of the venue, 25,000 bottles of water ready to be demolished by the World Dance massive, 15,000m of 95 mil cables, 250m of 125 amp cables, 100m of 63+32 amp single phase used for the internals and the electrics as well as 200 staff being allocated to the night – 100 of which being security and a team of paramedics and a doctor is also provided for the event (phew!).

Within the next few hours all these months of planning and final week of gruelling work on the site will be put to the test as 7000 ravers unite for ‘Solstice’ – a celebration of summer where World Dance looks set again to set the standard as the flyer itself promises – “with a touch of World Dance magic”.